Reading with Grada Kilomba: Strange Possession – The Intrusive Past and the Future

On Sunday, 8 August 2010, 16h AfricAvenir in cooperation with Staatliche Museen Berlin presents a reading by Grada Kilomba "Strange Possession – The Intrusive Past and the Future" (in English) followed by a discussion at Friedrichswerdersche Kirche, in the framework of the exhibition Who Knows Tomorrow. ‘Colonialism  may be seen as ‘a thing’ of the past, but it is intimately bound to the present. It is a haunting of history that continues to interrupt the present and the future. This alluring association reminds us that history haunts us, like a strange possession, because it has been improperly told. Writing is a way of resuscitate a traumatic collective experience and bury it properly.’  Grada Kilomba will read new excerpts of her best-selling book ‘Plantation Memories’ which was recently re-printed.nPlantation Memories: |+| http://www.gradakilomba.com/NewBook.htmnVenue:
Friedrichswerdersche Kirche (Opposite German Federal Foreign Ministry)
Werderscher Markt / 10117 Berlin
U-Bahn U2 (Hausvogteiplatz), U6 (Französische Straße)
Tram M1, 12 (Am Kupfergraben)
Bus M48, 347 (Jerusalemer Straße); TXL, 100, 200 (Staatsoper); 147 (Werderscher Markt)|+| Google MapnGrada Kilomba
with origins in the West African islands SãoTomé e Príncipe, she was born in Lisbon where she studied clinical psychology and psychoanalysis. There she worked with war survivors in an psychiatric establishment, and developed several projects in the fields of memory and trauma. Early on she started publishing her literary work, combining academic writing and lyrical narrative to approach remembered stories of slavery, colonialism and racism. Among others, she is the author of the book ‚Plantation Memories’ (Unrast 2008), a compilation of episodes of everyday racism written in the form of short psychoanalytical stories. Following its release at the 2008 International Literature Festival in Berlin, her book has been internationally acclaimed. nShe has been working on several theatre projects and lecturing in the frame of postcolonial studies at the Freie Universität – Berlin, department of political sciences; and at the University of Ghana, Legon/Accra, department of African studies and Performing Arts. She holds a distinguished Ph.D. from the Freie Universität. Currently she is writing in her novel ‚Kalunga’, based on the world of the Orishas and the post-transatlantic experience of fragmentation, loss and colonial convalescing.n|+| www.gradakilomba.com